Is My Boldness Clearly Visible?

February 20, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

Some people are either afraid to say what they really think, or else they aren’t entirely confident in what they believe. As a result, they tend to take an indirect approach to communicate what they want someone else to hear. 

Some try to imply what they’re really trying to say: “Do you get what I’m saying? Can you read between the lines?” Others hope the other person will infer the right meaning. But bold claims are something completely different—there’s no implying, no hoping the other person will infer the right thing, but just a clear statement. Like Caiaphas’ statement that we looked at last week: “Jesus must die so that the rest of us can keep our cushy positions.” 

You can always tell if the message got through by how the recipients respond. Usually the stronger the reaction, the more clearly the message was received! 

Remember that I talked about the clout that Annas still held, even though he wasn’t officially the high priest anymore? We see it right after the arrest of Jesus. Instead of taking Him directly to the Sanhedrin, He was first taken to Annas. There Jesus was questioned about His followers and His teaching, and He simply replied, “Everything I taught is public knowledge. I’ve boldly and clearly proclaimed Who I am” (John 18:12-14, 19-24). 

All throughout His public ministry, Jesus did make it clear who He was. There are so many places we could read about this in the Gospels, but let me just show you three examples from the Gospel of Luke:

    1. He forgives sins and heals a paralytic to prove that He has the power of God to forgive—Luke 5:20-25 
    2. Demons recognize Him and submit to His power—Luke 8:28-35 
    3. His disciples recognize that Jesus is the Son of God—Luke 9:18-22

(Check out all of the above references by clicking here.) 

Finally, Jesus was asked directly by the Sanhedrin and He made His bold claim that He was indeed the Son of God (Luke 22:66-71). Remember I said earlier that you can tell how clearly the message got through by the response of the people? Well, check out this response—

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”

“He is worthy of death,” they answered. (Matthew 26:65-66)

What about you and me? Do we have to imply that we believe Jesus is the Son of God? Do we have to hope the other person will infer that we are His disciples? Or can it be said that our verbal and lifestyle testimony is a bold claim of what we believe and Whose we are? 

The Book of Acts records the response of the Sanhedrin to the first Christians, and it appears to be identical to their response when they heard Jesus say, “I am the Son of God.” For instance: 

  • After Peter and John healed a lame man, the Sanhedrin could see “that these men had been with Jesus” but they ordered them not to talk about Jesus anymore. These men said they could not obey that directive (Acts 4:13-14). 
  • When they were called back in for a second appearance, Luke tells us the Sanhedrin “were furious and wanted to put them to death.” But they persisted in boldly proclaiming Jesus to everyone (Acts 5:30-39). 
  • Then there was an early church leader named Stephen. His bold preaching brought him before the Sanhedrin as well, who ended up stoning him to death (Acts 6:8-10, 15; 7:55-56).

(Check out all of the above references by clicking here.)

So let me repeat the question: Can it be said that our verbal and lifestyle testimony is a bold claim of what we believe and Whose we are? Or do we simply speak empty words? 

Jesus made His bold claim and He backed it up. What about us? Do we make the bold claim that we will stand for Jesus even if that means we will be ridiculed, persecuted, or killed? Is our bold claim backed up by a lifestyle of complete trust in our Savior? These are questions every Christian should ask and allow the Holy Spirit to help them answer honestly. 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series called Bold Claims, you can find them all by clicking here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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When “The End” Is Just The Beginning

February 13, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

We’ve all heard people make some audacious claims. But the real power is in being able to back up those claims. Without any proof, it’s all talk! As things were coming to a conclusion for Christ’s ministry—at least in the world’s eyes—there were some bold claims being made. Some were made by Jesus Himself, some by His rivals, and some by His supporters. 

The first bold claim we’re going to consider was made by the high priest: a man named Joseph Caiaphas. 

The Sanhedrin was the highest court in the land and was made up of 70 + 1 men. This comes from Numbers 11:16-17 (seventy leaders) plus Moses. After Moses, another person was always appointed to serve as the leader, which was usually the high priest. 

By the time of Jesus, this ruling body had become more political than religious. Very frequently, leadership would change because of the whims of the Romans or their puppet leaders (someone like a King Herod). The high priest in Christ’s early years was a man named Annas, who served from AD 6-15. During all of the public ministry of Jesus, the high priesthood had transferred to Caiaphas (AD 18-36), who was Annas’ son-in-law. Yet both of them still shared considerable influence (see Luke 3:2; John 18:13, 24; Acts 4:6). 

Caiaphas and his family were Sadducees. They didn’t hold to any beliefs of the supernatural—no angels or demons, no resurrection, no afterlife. Partly because of these unscriptural beliefs, the Jewish Qumran, who safeguarded the careful copying of the Scriptures, called Caiaphas “the wicked priest.”

Annas, Caiaphas, and their family member were the ruling party that wanted to stay in power. So their activities were always a balancing act: Trying to keep the Jewish community happy on one hand, while not offending the Romans or other political leaders on the other hand. 

It’s with this backdrop that we read the story of Lazarus’ resurrection in John 11. Jesus knew this miracle would validate His ministry, and sure enough, after the resurrection of Lazarus, more and more people put their faith in Jesus. So much so that the religious leaders wanted to kill both Jesus and Lazarus (11:53; 12:9-11). 

Ironically, these same religious leaders had previously asked Jesus for a sign to prove He was who He made the bold claim to be. To this demand, Jesus said that He would give them “the sign of Jonah” who was considered dead in the belly of the fish before he was “resurrected” to complete his mission (Matthew 12:38-40, 16:1-4). 

Since the religious leaders viewed everything through a political lens, they thought Jesus was also going to instigate a political or military uprising. The following that Jesus would gather would challenge the Sanhedrin’s hold on power, so Caiaphas proposed a political solution disguised as a prophecy (John 11:49-53). 

Caiaphas meant it like this: “We’re trying to keep the balance between the Jewish people and the powerful Romans. If we kill one Man (Jesus) in time, we may be a little out of favor with the Jews but we will save our position with the Romans. Later on, we’ll make things right with the common people.” 

Even to this day, people are trying to balance, juggle, control, appease, and bargain their way to get or keep the life they want to live. They will use religious dressing to do political things, thinking they will “make it right” later on. 

Caiaphas made this bold claim: “If Jesus dies, our position will be saved for us and our children.” But he had no power to back up his bold claim, so it was just talk. 

But Jesus made this bold claim: “I will die so that your souls can be saved for eternity.” He, on the other hand, had the power to back up His bold claim (John 10:17-18). 

God’s plan always prevails! 

Caiaphas’ plan sounded like it would be the end of Jesus and His mission, but “the end” was really just another step in fulfilling what God had already planned! 

Let me say it again: God’s plan always prevails. The bold claims of powerful evil people may make it seem like the end is near, but don’t fret because their “end” is only fulfilling God’s plan! 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series of Bold Claims, you can check them all out by clicking here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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